Chicago, Ill. - The 2022-2023 Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams will kick off their season this Saturday, October 15th, in a home dual meet against UW-Whitewater at 1:00pm in Ekco Pool.

On the men’s side, 13 student-athletes return to the team along with the addition of 7 incoming student-athletes.

Leading the team on the men’s side will be NCAA Second-Team All American & fourth-year co-captain Mark Klinchin along with third-year co-captain, Cameron Kramer. Both captains are looking forward to building on the 2nd place overall finish in the Liberal Arts Conference for the men last season.

“I’m really looking forward to our opportunity as a team to prove that our hard work and early hours are paying off,” said Kramer. “Our competitive spirit is already starting to show before our first meet and I’m really excited about watching that develop throughout the season and into our championship meets.”

Second-year Evan Standish & first-year Kacper Walczuk will also bring a new dimension to the team this season, as they compete on the diving boards. Their leaping abilities build on the strong foundation of the swim team’s success coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the women’s side, the team looks to continue building the group as 8 first-year student- athletes join the pool alongside 7 returning members.

Leading the women’s team this year will be fourth-year co-captain Aditi Iyer along with third-year co-captain Emma Dutkiewicz. With so many new members, the team is looking forward to the opportunity to put in a strong effort together.

“Overall, I’m excited to see hard work and strong effort at practices, especially the training trip,” said Iyer. “I’m even more excited to see fast swims at the conference and hopefully a lot of personal bests.”

Joining the team on the diving boards this year will be first-year Olivia Kocot and second-year Maria Plencner. In addition, NCAA Second-Team All-American, Anna Slominski, will look to have continued success in the 100-yard & 200-yard breaststroke. In the 2021-22 season, Slominski achieved an NCAA B qualifying time in the 200-yard breaststroke.

Interim Head Coach, William Bafia, envisions a dominant season for both teams in the pool.

“I am looking forward to a strong season on both sides. It has been some time since we’ve had the (overall) team at this size, so we are looking to make a big impact at the conference meet,” said Bafia. “I am ecstatic to welcome back our diving coach, Dar Novak, as well as the diving group she has been working diligently with to train. They are going to be the key to securing points throughout the season as we continue the preparation for conference.”

“This is a wonderful group of student-athletes that have been putting in a tremendous amount of effort in just the first four weeks of the season,” said Bafia.

The Hawks will look to take a jump in the Liberal Arts Conference after a 2nd place overall finish for the men and a 3rd place overall finish for the women in the 2021-2022 season.